This hearty, mahogany colored ale is brewed to evoke the dark, full-bodied ales that were a favorite of dockworkers and warehousemen (hence the name “Porter”) in 19th century London. It is a good bet that when Dickens’ Mr. Pickwick sat down for a pint, we would have been drinking an ale much like our Robust Porter.This is a smooth and very drinkable beer, characterized by its well-balanced malt and hops, plus subtle notes of coffee and chocolate.

More User Reviews:

Presentation: 12oz brown bottle. Very interesting b&w label comprised of a strong man holding a keg in one and woman in the other. A little dog in a bag at their side. "Cirque du François Oeuf" reads the caption. Freshness cleary marked.

Appearance: Extreme dark. As dark as any Stout, but with deep brown pitches. A healthy, rich tan lace clinges from the dark abyss from which it reaches.

Taste: Mouthfeel is medium, smooth. Upfront citrus rind hop flavour that dominates the entire palate. It sharpens with a grapfruit juice quality, then dissapates. The black malts are the main culprits which lend to the acrid taste. Soon after, some lightly burnt malt/chocolate/coffee ground flavours poke through to score the palate. Finishes a bit dry with more of that lightly burnt medly.

Notes: One of Smuttynose's most complex and tasty brews to date. Haven't had many Robust Porters, but this is indeed true to the modern day interpretation of a Porter, and it is indeed robust in flavour. (1,118 characters)

Huge rocky light brown head that holds up very well and seems to stick everywhere it can. It literally is one of the best heads I have seen in a long time. Big aroma of highly roasted malt, a pinch of sweetness in there also. Very smooth with a creamy backbone. Robust they say and robust it is with a sturdy full body. Roasted malt is very prevalent and gives a quick snappish twang then a blanketing of softer roasted malt flavour slowly cover the mouth again with suggestions of French roast coffee and unsweetened chocolate. Tight berry like fruitiness within and a mild warming alcohol slowly warms the mouth and body. Damn good drinking. (643 characters)

Pours a deep deep brown with a wispy almond colored head,aroma is chocolaty and deeply roasted with an almost lactic quality to it.Taste is pretty robust like it says,I get a big earthiness along with some bitter unsweetened chocolate with some dry hoppy notes that eek through near the finish.A real nice cold weather brew nice to sip on a rainy damp day like today. (367 characters)

An aptly named brew from a Brewery that I don't pay enough attention to. Pours a deep brown without heaps of carbonation, even when poured from a decent height. Bouquet is dominated by hops and malty sweetness. Tastes, well, great... complex, well rounded, roasted malty sweetness with enough hops to keep you on your toes. Would like to do a blind taste test with this and a few of my other favorite porters. This could very well become a staple fridge beer. (459 characters)

Nearly opaque with a huge imperial like tan-brown head. Aroma is strong and full with wonderful wisps of chocolate, French roast coffee, peanuts, and hex. Taste lets down jut a notch from the huge aroma but its still quite enjoyable. Aggressive coffee and hex nut are the dominant flavors. Mouthfeel is full, rich, smooth, drying in the finish, and mildly astringent. Very drinkable. (385 characters)

A: Smuttynose's Robust Porter is almost opaque black garnet highlights on the edges. The creamy mouse-like head is an expresso creme shade of light brown with almost the same texture; it also leaves lacing on the glass.

S: This beer has a thick roasted malt nose with low notes of plums and raisins. There is a moderate chocolate aroma and a touch of coffee. Pretty much nothing for hops and a light alcohol note.

T: The roast malt flavor is as big as the nose with a medium amount of chocolate and light expresso notes. There is a moderate to moderate-low hop bitterness and no hop flavor. The roast and bitterness continue past the dry finish.

M: Medium-heavy in body with a moderate level of carbonation. There is a a light chalkiness and a light alcohol warmth.

O: This is a robust porter that's packed with a lot of roast and far amount of chocolate. (859 characters)

T: The first sip of this beer is the best, before your palate gets aclimated to the brew. That first sip is so rich and so damn chocolately its amazing. Even by the second sip its less intense. Rich body, up front with coffee, chocolate, followed by a balancing hop bitterness. A touch of caramel, plenty of oil, finish is dry and refreshing. As the beer warms the chocolate opens up with some lactic overtones and becomes more reminiscent of milke chocolate than the dark chocolate in the nose. Roasty.

M&D: Very nice, the accessible weight makes it very drinkable. An easy drinking but still very interesting beer. Well made. (819 characters)

T-M-D- First is a mocha like coffee taste followed by a fruity burst of sweeted dates, prunes and raisins. Has some hoppy charactor in the ways mild bitterness and floral flavors. Full bodied and mild carbonation make this beer an easy drinker.I could easily put down a dozen of these in a night loving every sip. (716 characters)

Been wanting to try this one for a while. I recently brewed a Robust Porter and wanted to have a high ranking version to sample.

Pitch black body, big tan head that was slow to fall. Slight lacing.

Smells strongly of chocolate and some hints of toffee. Slight sweetness is aparent in the nose. Some hop aroma peaks through...possibly American derived.

Flavor comes across with a lot of roast, a bit of charcoal after the swallow. Has a touch of sweetness too and some very subtle hints of dark fruit. Still has some chocolately and coffee characters througout.

Nice medium body. Coats well and the roasted flavors linger for a while. Overall, this is a really nice beer. Nice big body and simple but robust flavors. Pretty easy to drink. Just a lot of flavor for a 5.7% beer. (779 characters)

pours.black with a mahogany hue, nice creamy tan head, about an inch and a half, eventually reducing to an eighth of an inch that sticks around, lacing stays around.smell, chocolate, caramel, toasted malt, a little coffee, very rich smooth satisfying smelltaste like it smells, coffee a little more prevalent in the taste than the smell, nice balance of bitter and sweet in the dark roasted malt, finish leans towards bitter, which i like.feels full, smooth, creamy with a little carbonation, nicethis is one delicious well built porter, it has a lot of what's good. what it doesn't have is an over-roasted taste and thin body, conversely, it doesn't taste like a sticky sweet malt bomb, this is a porter. (710 characters)

Extremely thick for a porter, extremely dark and with a monster head on top. Basically drinks like a weaker stout, but it can go down quickly. At 5.7 abv, it better be delicious and indeed it does work.

The creamy feel and malty smell are especially notable, and Smuttynose manages to impress again despite the setback of the all-too-goofy label. (347 characters)

Friday night at home, Netflix movie (Miami Vice. Don't bother). Had some porters in the fridge, and really liked this one. A dark brown color with a coffee-colored head that dissipated quickly. Rich chocolate aroma. A chocolate, espresso flavor. I thought it was quite rich, and fun to drink. (292 characters)